It's fast approaching the middle of the year, and in Australia we 'traditionally' celebrate that with a stock take sale to mark the end of our financial year.

Have you have been thinking about shouting yourself a new camera bag? Do you want it to be made of gorgeous, soft, genuine leather in a timeless style? ​The time has come my friend!

Until June 30, 2017 you can save $50 off any leather camera bag in stock by using the coupon code MIDYEARSALE at checkout. If you sign up to my VIP list though, I'll take even better care of you, and you will instantly receive a discount voucher for an extra $10 off! Yes, your maths is correct, VIP's get a huge $60 saving on a new fancy handbag for your DSLR.

This is my mum, taken about 8 years ago. She was always the family photographer, and we have countless photos of our childhood growing up in Papua New Guinea. It's no secret where I got the photography bug from.

There aren't many photos of mum though. She didn't like to be in front of the camera ... at all! She was 'shy', and she 'didn't like being in photos' (but interestingly, if we didn't like being in a photo, and cried about it, she would say 'Even if you're crying...it's going in the album!' ...and those photos are actually in the album!)

But this photo was taken when Mum and Dad visited us in New Zealand after my daughter was born. Mum loved babies, and this was my first child. She was born in New Zealand, so she loved going back there, in the way that all Kiwi's do; it was where she felt at home. We had booked a little holiday home on the water and it was beautiful there.

So this is a rare photo of my mum, looking relaxed and happy, with a camera in her hand.

If you look through your photo album, are you in there?

I know that I'm hard to find!

It's not even because I'm shy, or don't like being in photos (ok, I'm not the biggest fan) but it's just because I'm always on the other side of the camera.

So to encourage you to get in the frame, I am excited to be teaming up with the lovely Louise Glendon from Click Love Grow online photography courses, and giving you the chance to win a seat in her enthusiast photography course AND a genuine leather Lilah Snow Jane Camera bag in Sand. The total prize is valued at over $600 USD!
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The catch? You have to get comfortable in front of the camera.You have to submit a selfie.

As this competition is a celebration of Mother's Day, try to get in a selfie with your kids, or your mum, but we will accept a good old-fashioned, high-angle, duck-face if that's what you've got!

Enter below, and not only will you end up with a photo of you in the album, but the chance to improve your photography skills and a glamorous camera bag!

If you are looking for the perfect photographer's Mother's Day gift, then you are in the right place, as we have just launched our Mother's Day competition on Instagram in conjunction with @lifewellcaptured

To win the stylish leather camera bag of your choice you need to:

1. Post a photo of 'Motherhood' to your Instagram page using the tag #lwc_motherhood This photo must be a new post as it must show up in the tag feed after the competition announcement post by @lifewellcaptured.2. Mention that you are trying to win a @lilahsnow camera bag, and make sure you tag us in your photo caption (not the comments!)3. Follow both @lifewellcaptured and @lilahsnow

The competition begins after the theme announcement image is posted on @lifewellcaptured on Monday April 10, 2017 (AEST) and will run in 3 weekly heats with finalists from each week then being put forward for the final vote by @lifewellcaptured followers from May 1st, 2017

You can enter as many times as you like as long as your entry contains the correct tags on new posts and you are following both pages.

The competition is open worldwide and includes express post shipping within Australia. If the winner is from outside Australia, they will need to pay shipping costs (approx $40 AUD to the USA).

If you just can't wait until Mother's Day to get you new camera bag, then you can save 15% off any bag until the competition ends using the discount code: ​

WINNING

So what are you waiting for?

Start getting your entries ready, and get a head start by choosing your bag now!

My camera has been in my bag for a while. To be honest, it's a pretty nice bag, so it has been very happy in there, but I am acutely aware that it's there.

I missed a lot of photo opportunities over Christmas - I didn't get the sparkly tree bokeh of the perfect cookie making shot.

I've been feeling the pressure.

I did a photo-a-day challenge a few years back and I got some awesome photos. My photography skills improved immensely and the images from that year are some of my favourite, but it really started to stress me out. I would come home at 630pm from a day at work and still try to hit my theme for the day. I loved the result, but I felt that the pressure to participate took away from other elements of my day.

Left to my own devices, I still took some shots that I loved, but gradually the number dimished and I lost a bit of mental focus.

Last year, I didn't take that many shots at all (well...that I actually kept!)

My instagram feature page @lifewellcaptured was born from a desire to encourage you to keep your camera with you, and capture some images of your life that you love. It's been great, and you have been a big inspiration to me. This year though, we have decided to add a bit more focus to it with weekly themes.

I feel like because a theme a week is only 52 photos it should be do-able. If this were the film days (anyone else remember them?) it would only be 2 rolls of 36, with space for a few dodgy shots!

I am hoping that a theme a week will give me focus without stress, and I hope it does the same for you.

Follow along with the themes on @lifewellcaptured and use the weekly theme (which this week is #lwc_new ) But if you don't feel that the theme fits, then pick up your camera and share your current viewpoint using the tag #lifewellcaptured. In the end, you will be the winner just by picking up the camera and capturing those precious moments of 2017 which will not come round again.

Instagram is a rabbit hole for photography lovers, and it is such a rich source of inspiration.

Everyone can find something that interests them on Instagram, but the thing that I am drawn to the most is the extraordinary capture of ordinary things.

I love it when an image freezes a particular moment of time in a way that is also timeless; when an image of someone's personal journey also conveys universal emotion.

A driving motivation behind my camera bags is to make it easy for you to carry your favourite lenses, and the amazing technology of your DSLR, in a way that makes the choice to carry your real camera an easy one, and the choice to leave your phone in the bag, the smart one. Capture those moments well, and they will be the memories of your generation, as well as those that follow you.

The Instagram account @lifewellcaptured is such a joy to moderate. I am constantly awed by the artists who dwell inside ordinary neighbourhoods and may never try to make a career of their work. These artists capture life as it is lived, and I would love for you to contribute your viewpoint on how life is lived at your place.

​Congratulations to Sarah (@sarahwatson5) who has won a Lilah Snow Camera Bag in the July #lifewellcaptured competition!

The theme for July was 'Freeze' which I thought would be appropriate given our Winter season in Australia, but in fact it was much harder to capture than I had anticipated. From our Northern hemisphere friends, we had a lot of great 'freeze frame' moments which also fit the theme (and made us jealous of their warm weather...) but it was this simple image of Sarah's which captured my heart.

I love the way the kids are snuggled together, and their matching faces! I love the texture of the clothing and the grain in the image. The black and white conversion really adds such a feeling of nostalgia too. I love that although you can tell that the weather must be cold because of their dress, they don't look it. They just look happy together.

Sarah gets to choose the Lilah Snow Camera Bag of her choice as this month's winner!

Every month, on the final night of the competition, I spend hours annoying my husband and my sister with last minute changes of mind and an Airplay slide show of all my Instagram screenshots from the past month. It is always so hard to narrow it down!

In August, instead of having a monthly winner, I have decided to just have a special @lifewellcaptured discount code of $50 off any bag for the month of August. Hopefully by September I will have forgotten how stressed I get at making a decision that I will start it up again!

Thank you to everyone who has been tagging #lifewellcaptured (there are now over 5100 images in the feed!) and to all of our followers, which ticked over 400 on the weekend, and was a big thrill. This month we will continue to feature photos from the main tag.

Thank you also to Amy (aka @ace_space_) who is responsible for putting together all of those lovely grids in your feed. She wouldn't be able to do it without your amazing images (but I honestly don't believe I would be able to do it like that, even with all of your images to draw from!)

As always, there were a lot of close contenders for the main prize, each with their own merit, so please also join me in congratulating the following talented photographers.​Click on the image to be taken directly to it in Instagram.

As they say in Game of Thrones...Winter is here! In Australia, this can vary in temperature from the icy ski-fields in the south, to the 'cooler' 28 degree (celcius!) days of the north, but I thought it was a good chance to make this month's #lifewellcaptured theme 'freeze'.

Of course, in the northern hemisphere, it's summer, and there are not as many chances to catch an icy blast. You 'northerners' will have to be more creative to get your shot and set your shutter speed to 'freeze' the motion, or maybe you just want to capture your life as it is now, and simply 'freeze' time. To be honest, I like the fact that the word can be interpreted in different ways and I'm a big fan of thinking outside the box!

This month on Instagram, tag your 'freeze' photos with #lifewellcaptured and you can win the Lilah Snow camera bag of your choice!

My kids - not in Queensland though...it doesn't really 'freeze' here!

To enter, simply tag a photo on Instagram with #lifewellcaptured and make sure you are following both @lilahsnow and @lifewellcaptured for your entry to be valid.​Please tag only new images. Only photos which appear in the #lifewellcaptured feed after the July 1 post announcing the new theme will be considered.

The winner can choose the leather camera bag of their choice from the Lilah Snow store and the prize includes Express Post shipping within Australia.

This competition is open worldwide, but winners from outside of Australia will be responsible for shipping costs ,and any taxes or duties that your country may charge.

It is a competition of skill; chance plays no part in determining the winner. The winner will be chosen by myself (@lilahsnow) and @ace_space_ and our decision is final.

This competition is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram.

When I set the theme for #lifewellcaptured in June as 'the details' I had a mental image of close-ups and macros and I loved all of those little pieces of life that flashed up in my instagram feed. It wasn't until I saw this photo by @jolizie though, that I realised that capturing the details of someones life can be so much more.

This is the caption that was posted with this image: 'My dad has owned a farm in WI for 50 some years, and today was likely my last visit to it as he's sold the property. We took one last drive around the back woods, walked the hidden path down to the Apple river, and stopped by the Star Prairie barber for one last hair cut there. I thought I was being strong, but as I looked back at the pictures from today I broke down. So many memories there. I feel like I've come to the end of a book that I don't want to end. ."

When I looked back at the image, and saw the look on her Dad's face, and thought about the story it told, I realised that capturing the details of a life didn't have to be done close-up. When I tried to explain the photo to my husband, I got all choked up with tears, and that was when I knew I had found a strong contender for the winning image this month. I love that in a time of immense change for both herself and her Dad, Jo has managed to take the time to capture details of his present life.

I am so motivated by images of everyday life that have meaning to the photographer as well as the subject. Keep your camera with you, and those moments will present themselves. Keep your camera with you, and the practice will improve your skills to a point where your memories are preserved in a way that does them justice. This is the reason I design camera bags, and the motivation behind the #lifewellcaptured tag which encourages you to go out there and capture your life in your way. You actually win every time you capture one more memory.

Jo's image has won her her choice of Lilah Snow Camera Bag this month, but if you want to play along in July, you can check out the new theme here.

Please also take the time to visit @jolizie on her Instagram page by clicking on the image above - it will take you straight to the image so you can let her know that you loved it too!

It is NOT easy to narrow 1500 images down to 1 - it is really not!

Above are a few of our other favourites, and if you click on them it will take you directly to the original image on Instagram.

@rikki_ is the Queen of details. If you do not follow her already, then you must check her out! She is able to capture amazing macros of water droplets on leaves and spiderwebs, and she has an amazing off-the-wall take on the prompts for the Fat Mum Slim Photo-a-day challenge (which you should also check out if you are not already doing it!). I love her mind, her creativity and her macros.Follow her!

@karenelizabeth_photograhy took that amazing photo of her kids out catching fireflies against the sunset glow. To me, a firefly is up there with hummingbirds and fairies. They all have a mystical quality that defies belief, especially to those of us in Australia (although the tooth fairy DOES visit here!) So to capture that silhouette perfectly, with the hand reaching out for that glow, is a perfect childhood fantasy on the screen.

@triciapphotography has an image full of gorgeous details. Of course the roses are lovely, but when you team that with the beautiful hair and stunning lashes of her pretty little girl, you really have a beautiful capture. The black and white also works so well to focus on those details.

@annaymayer made me laugh with 'Mr Frog,' as her kids so imaginatively named him! In Southern Queensland, we have cane toads, which are horrible things and not for holding, but this guy in his green glory is very photogenic! The freezing of that splash of water across him really does makes the shot.

@belldesigned got right behind the theme this month,, and really spent a lot of time taking macro shots of her surroundings. I love the colour of this seed pod and I love how macro allows you to really slow down and appreciate the details in everyday life that would otherwise pass you by.

@danikamillsphotography caught this stunning light above the head of her daughters heart shaped bun. Her caption was: 'Sometimes the most ordinary moments are there just to remind us that beauty truly is all around us. I love finding unexpected hearts, I love unexpected light, I love when they find each other 😍❤️ I literally turned around to see her standing there, like a secret message just for me. Love is here.' My heart melted just a little!

So as you can see, the competition is fierce and the decision is hard!

I truly believe though, that everyone who specifically went out to take a photo for this month's competition has won. Every photo taught you about your camera, about lighting and about your subject. Every image you have saved is a memory now preserved.

Memory can be a fickle thing. I always think I'll remember the little things, but as time passes and things change, those little details fade away.

This month's #lifewellcaptured theme on Instagram, challenges you to document those little details in your life to preserve them in your 'photographic memory'.

This theme is quite broad, because I want you to be able to apply it to your own life. You may want to remember you child's favourite toy, details of your present home, or even use the theme as a reminder to slow down and appreciate the smaller details of the world in the form of macro photography. My main goal is to have you think about the elements of your life that you would like to preserve, and to encourage you to get out there with your camera and capture them. Chances are, if you really love your image, then we will too!

To enter, simply tag a photo on Instagram with #lifewellcaptured and make sure you are following both @lilahsnow and @lifewellcaptured for your entry to be valid.

Please tag only new images. Only photos which appear in the #lifewellcaptured feed after the post announcing the new theme will be considered.

The winner is able to choose the camera bag of their choice from the Lilah Snow store and the prize includes Express Post shipping within Australia. The competition is open worldwide, but winners from outside of Australia will be responsible for shipping costs ,and any taxes or duties that your country may charge.

This is a competition of skill, chance plays no part in determining the winner. The winner will be chosen by myself (@lilahsnow) and @ace_space_ and our decision is final.

This competition is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram.Competition ends midnight June 30, 2016 (Australian EST)